Display refrigerator



Dec. 4, 1928.

A. H. SIEBERT DISPLAY REFRIGERATOR Filed Dec. l5. 1926 Patented Dec. l4,1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED E. SIEBERT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISS & HOTEL SUPPLY CO., 0F ST. LOUIS,

OURI, ASSIGNOR T0 SiT. LOUIS BUTCHEBS MISSOURI, A CORPORATION 0FMISSOURI.-

v DISPLAY REFRIGERATOR.'

Application led December 13, 1926. Serial No. 154,391.

M invention relates to improvements in disp ay refrigerators, and hasfor its primary object a display refrigerator which is so arranged thatthe air within the refrigerator can be circulated so that asubstantially even or uniform temperature will be maintained throughoutthe refrigerator.

A further object is to construct a refrigerator as aforementioned inwhich lthe chilled air is delivered into the refrigerator adjacentthetop and, being colder than the air in the refrigerator, descends,forcing the warmer air in the refrigerator upward thus assisting the aircirculating means.

' A still further object is to construct a display refrigerator which isprovided with an apparatus for artificial refrigeration and in which therefrigerating means and the air circulating means are separatelyoperated and controlled so that one may be placed in operation withoutaffecting the other.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is I'a vertical longitudinal view of 'b the device;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the llne 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlargedperspective view of the removable deflector.

In carrying out the invent-ion, a casing is employed consisting of sides4, a top 5, a bottom 6, a front wall 7 and a rear wall 8. It will benoted that the sides 4 andbottom 6 are made hollow so as to enable themto be filled with the usual packing, such as cork, mineral wool, or thelike, so as to insulate `the interior of the refrigerator from the at-Vmosphere. The front and top are preferably made with sheets of plateglass so that the interior of the refrigerator can be -readily seen. Therear wall is providedwith doors 9 through which access can be had to theinterior of the refrigerator.

Supported by the bottom 6 is a container 10, which is designed to have anon-freez-V ing solution placed therein. In the container 10 andsubmerged in the non-freezing solution is'an expander 11, which isprovided with a plurality of pipes 12. These pipes extend longitudinallyof the casing and have their free ends secured in headers 13. The

`headers 413 are in turn connected to a pipe 14, which pipe is connectedto the suction end of a compressor 15. Connected to the pressure end oft-he compressor are pipes 16.

These pipes are in turn connected to a cool- 1ng coil 17, which coil isconnected to thc expander 11 by means of a pipe 18.

Extending lnto the container 10 is a pipe 19 which is connected to thesuction end of a pump 20. The delivery end of the pump 20 has connectedthereto a pipe 21 to which pipe are connected stand pipes 22. Thesestand pipes have their -upper ends substantially U shaped (see Fig. 1)and carry spray nozzles 23.

Extending upward from the tank 10 are ducts 24. These ducts have theirlower ends 25 immersed in the non-freezin solution so that the same willseal the ower' end of the ducts. The ducts are also rovided with apartition wall 25a into front and rear passageways 26 and 27. Thepartition wall 25a, however, has its lower end terminating above thelevel of the nonfreezing solution as illustrated in Fig. 3. The upperend of the passage l26 is closed v means of the closure 28 while thepassage 2 is open at all times. The passage 26 is also provided near itsupper end with a plurality of louvres or passages 29 by means of whichoair can be discharged from the upper end of the passage.

The upper ends of the ducts 24 are open -at their inner face so as toprovide a hood 34 which communicates with the interior of therefrigerator. It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 that the spray nozzlesextend up into this hood and, in order to prevent any moisture fromspraying out through the hood, a removable deflector 35 is employed.This deflector can be readily removed and placed in position. 4

It will also .be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 that each of the stand pipesis provided with a valve 36. The purpose of this valve is to regulateeach spray nozzle independently and thus control the circulation of airin the various arts of the refrigerator, In fact if desired, ligmay useonly one stand pipe or `I may use two or all of the stand pipes, and Dbyreason of the'valves it is also possible to cause one or more of theducts to have a greater suction therein than in the remainder. In thisway the temperature inside of therefrigerator can be controlled to agreat extent without in any way changing the operation of the pump or ofthe refrigerating machine.

, The stand pipes 22 and nozzles 23 are lodividing t e ducts los catedin the passageway 27. This passageway, asl will be observed from Fig. 3,isopen atthe top. The compressor is driven i by'means of a motor 30.This motor is controlled by an automatic switch 31 which is connected tothe compressor and operates by the pressure set up therein so that whena predetermined pressure is reached, the switch will automatically openand thus stop the motor 30, while when the pressure drops below apredetermined amount, the switch will again automatically close, placingthe compresser in operation. The pump 2O is operated b a motor 32. Thismotor can be icontrolle in any manner foundiv desirable.

Located above the container or tank 10 is a, false floor 33. This flooris preferably made of sections which are hollow and filled with materialso as to insulate the interior of the refrigerator from the non-freezingsolution. In fact when the floor is in position, the tank -10 isentirely invisible and in this manner articles placed in therefrigerator are prevented froln falling into the tank or thenonfreezing solution, and furthermore the floor will prevent7 to a greatextent, moisture arising from the tank into the refrigerator thus makingwhat is termed in the trade a wet box. f

The operation of my device'is as follows: After the various parts of thedevice have been assembled, a non-freezing solution is placed inthe tankl0. lThe compressor 15 is charged with a refrigerating solution andthenmotor 30 started. e The compressor will compress the refrigerant andpass it to the cooling coil 17 where it is cooled and passes through thepipe 18 to the expander 11, where it expands, passes through the pipe 12into the headers 13, and then back through the pipe 14 to thecompressor. After the nonfreezing solution has been cooled to thedesired degree, the pump 2O is placed in operation drawing the coolednon-freezing solution from the tank 10 through lthe pipe 19 anddischarging it through the pipe 21. From there it will be forced upthrough the stand pipes 22 and discharged 1n a downwardly directed sprayinto the passage 27. This downwardly directed spray w1ll carry with itair which is in the passage 27 and in so doing set up suction at theupper end of this passage. The air during its passage down becomescooled through contact with the spray and is forced downward until itstrikes the nonfreezing solution, which is in the lower end of the duct.There the passage of the air is reversed and the air passes around theunder end of the partition wall 25a and up through the passage 26, andon account of the end of this passage being closed by the wall 28, thecooled air will be discharged through the louvres 29. This air beingmuch cooler than i the air in the box, will sink toward the bottom ,ofthe refrigerator striking the false floor 33 and in so doingwilldisplacethe air,which was previously at the bottom of the displaychamber and force it upward. A continued spray of non-freezing solutionthrough the passageways 27 will cause the air in the refrigerator tobecome colder and colder, and after the device has been in operation fora. short time the temperature within the refrigerator is substantiallyuniform throughout, there only being possibly a' degree or so ofdifference be-. tween the top ofthe refrigerator and the bottom.

While I have shown my device as employing artificial refrigeration, thisfeature is not absolutely necessary as it would be possible to use iceto cool the non-freezing solution.

Having fully described my i-nvention, what I claim is z- 1. A displayrefrigerator comprising a casing, a tank containing a nonfreezingsolution located in the bottom thereof, means for chilling said solutionwithout adding to its quantity, a duct located in said casing andextending from" a point near the top of said casing into said tank, itslower end being immersed in said solution,.passageways formed in saidduct'and communicating with each other adjacent the level of thesolution, a closure for the upper end of one of said passageways, therebeing a plurality of openings formed in the front wall of said passagebelow the closure, the other passageway being open at thel top, meansfor circulating and forcibly spraying said nonfreezing solution downwardvertically through saiddast mentioned passageway whereby air is drawntherein from the top of the casing and chilled and then forced upward inthe closed passage, said chilled air being redischarged into the casingadjacent its top.

2. A display refrigerator comprising a casing, a tank located in thebottom thereof, ducts located in said casing adjacent one wall thereof,said ducts extending from a point near'the top of the casing into saidtank and terminating above the bottom thereof, a nonfreezing solutionlocated in said tank and the lower end of said ducts, refrigeratingcoils located in said solution, a artition wall in each of said ductsfor dividlng the same into passageways front and rear, said partitionwall terminating above the nonfreezing solution whereby said passagewayscommunicate with each other at their lower ends only, a closure for theupper end of said front paslos sage, passages formed through the frontwall of said front passage below said closure, means for circulating andforcibly spraying a regulated quantity of said nonfreezing solutiondownward vertically through the rear passage whereby air will be drawntherein, forced upward through the closed passage and be delivered intosaid casing adjacent its top through the passages in the front wall ofthe front passage.

3. A display refrigerator comprising a casing, a tank containing anonfreezing solution located in the bottom thereof, means including alrefrigerating system for chilling said solution, a duct located andalong one wall of said casing and extending froma point near the top ofsaid casing int-o said tank, its lower end being immersed in Saidsolution, front and rear passageways formed in said duct andcommunicating with each other above the level of the solution, a closurefor the upper end of said front passageway, the rear passageway beingopen at the top, means for circulating and forcibly spraying saidnonfreezing solution vertically downward through said last mentionedpassagewayy whereby air is drawn therein from the top of the casing andchilled and then forced upward in the front passage, the front 'wall' ofsaid front passage having vertically Yspaced passages formedtherethrough adjacent its upper end through which said chilled air isredischarged into the casing without escaping from the lower end of theduct, and means for regulating the amount of solution sprayed downwardthrough the passageway whereby the amount of air drawn in from thecasing is regulated. v v p 4. A display refrigerator comprising acasing, a tank ,located in the bottom thereof, ducts located in saidcasing adjacent one wall thereof, said ducts extending from a point nearthe top of the casingninto said tank and terminating above the bottomthereof, a nonfreezing solution located in said tank and the lower endof saidv ducts, means for chilling.

said solution without adding to its volume, a partition wall in each ofsaid ducts for dividing the salne into front and rear passage- Aways,said partition wall terminating above `into Said casing adjacent i-tstop through the passages in the wall of the duct, means for chillingsaid nonfreezing solution, means for controlling the circulation of saidspray through the rear passageway whereby the circulation of air iscontrolled, and a removable deflector carried by the upper end 0f saidpassageway for preventing the spray of nonfreezing solution fromentering the container.

In testimony whereof I have aliixed my signature.

` ALFRED H. SIEBERT.

